Academy recruitment officer Malcolm Moore says it was a six-goal starring performance which first alerted him to former Blues’ frontman Connor Wickham’s exceptional talent. The 18-year-old, who left Portman Road for Sunderland last week for an initial £8.1 million rising to £12 million, was a member of Reading’s academy at the time, learning the game under current Swansea City boss Brendan Rodgers.

Moore told TWTD: “I first saw him playing against our U11s for Reading when Brendan Rodgers was in charge of their academy. The score was about 8-5 or something like that to Reading and he scored about six of them.

“You knew that he could do something - you knew he could score goals! It was a matter of developing him and continually improving him. You had an inkling that he was good even then.”

Moore, the man who previously brought England striker Darren Bent to Playford Road, says he even made a cheeky enquiry to Rodgers, which he didn’t expect to be a success: “My quote to Brendan was ‘if that player ever becomes available, please make sure you give me the first call!'.

“And then later on, because of the situation of his father being relocated by the army from Aldershot to Colchester, and with me knowing Brendan quite well, he picked the phone up and said, ‘I’ve got Mr Wickham here and I think Ipswich would be the ideal club for Connor’.

“I invited them down and I think Connor and his parents made their decision very quickly because they liked what they saw here, and everything just moved on from there.”

Despite his undoubted talent, Moore says it took hard graft to get to where he is now: “He had his ups and downs as he progressed through. He slowed down a little bit for a while, then he worked very, very hard and he deserves what he now has.

“When a player comes through like that you’d like to see them play for Ipswich in the Premier League, but sometimes that isn’t the situation. Obviously, when you get a financial offer like that on the table the club has to think very hard.

“We’ve done our bit in the academy. We’ve recruited the player, spent time with him and now there’s been a big reward for the club, and hopefully that money will help the manager to get some players in. The same thing happened with Darren Bent and others.”

Moore says it’s pleasing for him to see someone develop all the way through the system: “It’s nice to know that I’ve got players for the club and that there’s been a big positive end to it — Connor’s going to have a great career, he deserves everything he gets because he’s worked hard, and hopefully the money will enable Paul Jewell to meet the club’s goals.”

Photo: Action Images

bluethroughnthrough added 11:14 - Jul 5 I'm pretty bored of reading about EX Ipswich players now tbh.
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Bergholtblue added 11:25 - Jul 5 and this is newsworthy because..?
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JimmyJazz added 11:27 - Jul 5 Wonder what Reading think about it now. They effectively gave him to us.
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clive_baker added 11:37 - Jul 5 So thanks Brendan Rodgers then. Pleased he didn't pick up the phone to Colchester. Oh and it's newsworty because some of us take an interest in the academy and how our talent develops. If you're not interested, don't read it and certainly dont take more time to post a pointless response.
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DiamondGezzer added 11:54 - Jul 5 Well done Mr. Moore, long may it continue.
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TractorBeezer added 13:09 - Jul 5 Good work Malcolm. A successful academy is vital for a successful club and ours is more than paying its way as well is also developing young players for the first team squad. Brighter days ahead.
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arc added 13:36 - Jul 5 Nice story. The only sad line is the comparison with the Bent deal–that money was reinvested in which quality players?? Darren Currie and Kevin Horlock? Drissa Diallo and Adam Proudlock?
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Big_Foot_Blue added 15:25 - Jul 5 Shows how even one conversation can change lives, without that Connor may never have come here, may never have developed and may never have gone to the premier league, and we may never have got a lot of money and 2 entertaining years. Keep up the good work ITFC Academy!
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Shergar added 15:56 - Jul 5 Diallo, horlock and currie played in the same team as bent and I dare say a lot of bents goals came from currie. We were in a terrible financial position then and we needed to accept the money for bent to keep us a float. We nearly won the league with a manager that only ever signed one player for a fee in three years. Ironically, that player probably cost us the title; despite being a very good player, currie distrupted our game style. It reminded me a lot of asprillas move to newcastle.

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mutters added 16:42 - Jul 5 its a good piece. its reflective on the value of having a good youth system. if you can produce a return for the club, either through first squad players or transfer fees, then its doing a good job for the town.
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pazelle added 16:49 - Jul 5 Why can't we keep them for more than 2 minutes? If he starts scoring for Sunderland early doors he'll be worth £20 million instantly! What a load of rubbish!
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Paulc added 21:44 - Jul 5 Pazelle - I'm sure you're right, we should hold on to him and forget the money. What if he stayed and dropped in form it go a serious injury, what would he be worth then.? We are not a massive club so we do need to sell players some times especially when it's big money which 12 mil is. We can all bleat on about the "if only". But I always try to remember this quote "if only?, if only my auntie had bollocks she'd be my uncle!"

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Dalty added 22:28 - Jul 5 Excellent comment Shergar, 100% agree. Pity more Ipswich fans don't speak with similar intelligence.
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jclark20 added 00:41 - Jul 6 All you haters stop complaining! Its town-related news, so many of us want to read it. If you dont want to - then dont read it! Unless you think you can start your own independent site, find your own sources, and provide an even better free service. No didn't think you could.
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